Light Reading

I'm in one of those crazy weeks -- work work, volunteer work, getting the house ready for visiting inlaws -- you know the drill. Don't know when I'll get a real post up again. In the meantime, consider the following.

Roger Bundy of Cleveland Equanomous Philosopher has done the point-by-point legal analysis of the Educate and Obfuscate Amendment that I've pined to find the time for. It's excellent work and essential reading for anyone considering voting for this thing.

In addition to my specific life craziness, I'm finding that the general world craziness is getting in the way of blogging. Just because Mideast violence hasn't escalated into a region-wide conflict before doesn't mean it never will. It's hard to get excited about a post in the works about, say, White Hat Management as the world again teters on the lip of an abyss. Toward that end, two of the best pieces I've found.

Michael Lerner of Tikkun was on Franken today and provided an enlightening and seldom-heard rundown of recent history. It was pulled out of this piece in Tikkun. Meanwhile, Slate's Fred Kaplan ponders why Condi Rice isn't already on the ground in the Mideast.

Back to mundane policy stuff, Policy Matters Ohio commissioned an analysis of the Capital Gains Tax Cut currently under consideration. From the summary:

[T]he Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) analyze the proposed reductions. ITEP found that three quarters of the proposed tax cuts in the first three years would go to the wealthiest one percent of Ohioans. The plan would likely cost the state thousands of jobs, ITEP said, because a large share of the tax cuts would be diverted out of state, including almost a fifth that would be sent directly to the federal government in higher federal income taxes.

Medina County Democratic Action Committee has set up Dem TV -- a YouTube page with video of a number of political figures who spoke to their group, including Sherrod Brown and Betty Sutton. Speaking of Sutton, the PD today runs a story about her prodigious fundraising. I'm also hearing about some exciting upcoming events, so watch this space.

Sam Fulwood runs a piece today recounting Blackwell's efforts to supress votes in 2004.

Finally and to no one's surprise, the Beacon Journal's new owner has replaced publisher Jim Crutchfield.

Happy reading.

Late.